With NASCAR on a temporary hiatus, news is going to be slow in the coming weeks. To help fill the NASCAR void, we plan on taking you on a daily trip down memory lane spanning the years since the Jayski’s site inception. Using our news archives pages, here’s a look back at what’s happened on this date through the last 23 years in NASCAR:
This day in NASCAR history: April 5
Years we have pulled today’s main items from: 2017, 2015, 2013, 2011, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2004, 2002, 2001
Top see everything from this date over previous years: 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997
Note: Many links on older stories don’t work. There’s not a lot of the same websites around anymore.
To see previous articles covering “Today in History”, click here.
2017:
- NASCAR not expected to add mid-week points races to ’18 Cup schedule: NASCAR is not expected to feature any mid-week points races in its top series next season, according to sources, likely delaying a much-discussed change that could come to the sport. Monster Energy Cup Series races have been traditionally held on the weekend, but NASCAR and industry stakeholders — including media partners and tracks — have recently examined the idea of moving a handful of races to midweek dates. [More](4-5-2017)
2015:
1000th start for Stewart-Haas: Stewart-Haas Racing is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2018 and will mark its 1,000th Cup Series start when all four drivers fire-up their Roush-Yates powered Fords for the April 8 race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. Since its first season in 2009, the SHR driver lineup has at one time included Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer, Aric Almirola, Ryan Newman and Danica Patrick on a full-time basis while drivers like Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Brian Vickers, Regan Smith, Ty Dillon, Austin Dillon and Max Papis have served as substitute drivers. Harvick and Stewart won championships at SHR in 2014 and 2011, respectively, while five drivers have divvied up SHR victories.[More](4-5-2018)
2013:
- Ganassi not rushing Larson: Kyle Larson, who has been praised as a potential superstar by Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne, is back to work crisscrossing the country racing anywhere he can during a long break in NASCAR’s second-tier Nationwide Series. He spent last weekend at home in California racing at Antioch and Calistoga in Outlaws and 360 sprints, was back in North Carolina to run his kart at MMX on Wednesday, then was off again Thursday to Sacramento to repeat last week’s schedule at Antioch and Calistoga again. Next week it’s back to MMX for karting and then on to Texas Motor Speedway to resume racing in the Nationwide Series. So far, team owner Chip Ganassi hasn’t been disappointed. But Ganassi is being cautious. It is early, after all, and Larson has just five races with Turner Scott Motorsports under his belt. Just how long Ganassi actually allows Larson to be a kid is another question. He holds options for next year on both #1-Jamie McMurray and #42-Juan Pablo Montoya, who sit 16th and 30th in the Sprint Cup standings right now. His loyalty to Montoya is unquestioned, but he’s admittedly frustrated that the results still aren’t there as the duo heads into their seventh season together in NASCAR. If Ganassi has something already in mind for Larson as a potential replacement to one of his Cup drivers he isn’t saying. He initially joked there was no firm plan for Larson, “we just, every Monday morning, we just throw a dart at the board,” before getting serious about the importance of going slow with his young driver.(Associated Press)(4-5-2013)
2011:
- NASCAR getting ready to test fuel injectors: The first on-track test of fuel injection in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series could come as early as July 7 at Kentucky Speedway, provided NASCAR finalizes specifications for system hardware and software in time for teams to prepare. Because the Cup series will race at Kentucky for the first time on July 9, NASCAR has OK’d extra practice on Thursday, July 7. Cup teams are scheduled to spend four hours on the track that day, and Earnhardt-Childress Racing Engines chief engine builder Danny Lawrence hopes that will also provide the first test of fuel injection for the series. “Hopefully they’ll know (about specifications) in a week or two, because there’s getting to be a pretty big push for people to run at the Kentucky test,” Lawrence told Sporting News on Sunday at Martinsville Speedway. “They’re going to have a test day before the race, and if they have everything spec’ed out by then, we’ll try to run there—that’ll be our first deal. I know they’re working on it really hard, and hopefully, they’ll have it figured out in a few days.” NASCAR announced in February at Daytona International Speedway that McLaren and Freescale Semiconductor will partner in the development and manufacture of engine control units (ECUs) designed to manage fuel and ignition systems in Cup cars. Fuel injection will replace the carburetors that have been part of Cup engines since the series’ inception in 1949, with the transition targeted for the 2012 season.(Sporting News)(4-5-2011)
2009:
- If #8 team closes, Truex could be free agent..to Gibbs? UPDATE Bass Pro Shops not leaving: The buzz in the garage has Earnhardt Ganassi Racing shutting down the #8 Chevy and sidelining Aric Almirola after this weekend if a sponsor doesn’t magically appear. If that happens, three contracts are affected: #1-Martin Truex Jr., Bass Pro Shops Racing and Chevy. Truex’s contract states that he must have two teammates or he can leave
the team. Bass Pro Shops has a performance clause and with Truex 28th in owner points, the #1 team is in a precarious position. Finally, Chevy can alter its support to EGR if three teams are not under the roof. The hot rumor at Martinsville last week had Truex replacing Joey Logano in the #20 Home Depot Toyota. Joe Gibbs Racing president J.D. Gibbs insisted Sunday and again by phone on Wednesday that “Joey’s our guy. We haven’t had any conversations with anyone,” Gibbs said. “We’d like to have someone in line by summer time, but you have to sit down, look at what partner is available, what driver is available and who would be a good fit for the team. We had [#96] Hall of Fame last year and we don’t have it now. So we have room for a fourth team. We’d love to have it.”
Gibbs mentioned JGR’s plans to run the #02 Farm Bureau Toyota to race later this season. An announcement was made in January that Farm Bureau Insurance was signed for six Cup races in 2009, including being the primary sponsor for two Cup races on Denny Hamlin’s car at Darlington and Atlanta and on Logano’s car at Martinsville. A fourth team will feature Farm Bureau as the title sponsor for the fall races at LMS, Texas and Homestead. Gibbs did not believe Farm Bureau was committed to a level where it could expand as a full-time sponsor in 2010.
Truex said on Friday that he’s committed to staying the course. “When I give someone my word by signing a contract, if they keep theirs and I keep my mind, there’s no reason to ever think about doing anything else, obviously,” Truex said. “Right now, my focus is on getting this car better and moving up in the points. We’re back here where we shouldn’t be. We’ve never been back this far before and we’ve had a tough start to the year.”
As for Bass Pro Shops, if Truex does leave. don’t be surprised if the sponsor fills out Ryan Newman’s program on the #39 Chevy at Stewart-Haas Racing [US Army is there for 23 races]. That deal, which is valued between $8 million and $10 million, could go down before summer.(FoxSports)(4-4-2009)
UPDATE: SPEEDtv’s Hermie Sadler reported that EGR’s President Steve Lauletta said they would be meeting Tuesday to decide the fate of the #8 team and that Bass Pro Shops is signed with EGR thru the 2010 season and there is no ‘out’ for them.(4-5-2009)
- Penske to Toyota? doubtful: Speculation mounts that some Dodge teams may be looking to bolt, depending on how the Washington-Detroit-Chrysler-Fiat talks go. Most prominent in the speculation is that Roger Penske, who is one of the nation’s biggest Toyota dealers, may move Kurt Busch’s Dodge team, which just won at Atlanta, into the Toyota camp. A Penske-Toyota-NASCAR scenario has been bandied about for several years. There was no immediate comment from officials at Chrysler, but Toyota racing boss Lee White said “Unless RP [Roger Penske] has resorted to secretly stealing our parts, there is not chance he’s running anything remotely resembling a Toyota in the foreseeable future. It’s just another of many false rumors.”(mikemulhern.net)(4-5-2009)
2008:
- Petty, Loomis differ on who made call for McCumbee; Petty Would Consider Driving for Another Team: Kyle Petty isn’t happy about the decision to replace him with rookie Chad McCumbee at Texas. He made it clear on Friday that it was not his decision to step aside even though Robbie Loomis, the vice president of competition at Petty Enterprises, said it was. “I don’t care what he said,” Petty said. “I said it wasn’t. Why would I get out of a car?” Petty would not say who made the decision, whether it was Loomis or his father, seven-time
NASCAR champion Richard Petty. He referred to the decision-maker only as “they.” “Quite frankly, Kyle is the one that came up with the idea,” said Loomis, adding Petty will be back in the car next week at Phoenix. “On Monday, Kyle and Richard came to the shop and talked to me and said, ‘Hey, I know you’re trying to strengthening this team up. Let’s try to leave as much as that intact as you can right now and let’s put Chad in there and give him a chance.”’ That didn’t mesh with Petty’s story. “I told them I’ll do whatever it takes to make this team better,” he said. “They felt in order to make this team better was me being out of the car and somebody else being in it. If that’s the way they feel then that’s their option because they run the place. “Do I think I’m the problem?” he said. “No, I don’t think I’m the problem, but I’m pretty arrogant on that side…I think we have problems, but I don’t think Kyle Petty is the problem.”(ESPN.com)
AND: Kyle Petty said he would consider driving for a different organization if “there’s not a place for me here” at Petty Enterprises. The 47-year-old veteran replied “Oh, yeah” without hesitation when asked Friday afternoon whether a new race team could be in his future if it is determined that Petty Enterprises wants to go in a different direction. “Even though you think I make a living running my mouth, I try to make a living driving,” he said. “And if there’s no place for me here, then you’d have to go someplace else.” Petty emphasized that such a move would not be made until his current team has chosen the direction it will take. Therefore, a change is not imminent. (SceneDaily.com)(4-5-2008)
- Both Yates cars bare: Yates Racing drivers #38-David Gilliland and #28-Travis Kvapil are 22nd and 24th, respectively, in the points standings heading into tomorrow’s Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Both cars are unsponsored this weekend and are displaying SponsorYates.com.(4-5-2008)
2007:
- Pettys, Rudd Favor NASCAR Franchising: As a car owner whose teams are struggling to keep up with multicar megateams, seven-time champion Richard Petty has a solution to guarantee those who built NASCAR stick around: franchising. “I don’t know if I’ll live long enough to see it or not, but it will probably happen someday,” said the man still widely referred to as ‘The King.’ “I think the only thing in my mind that keeps NASCAR from becoming a completely legitimate, major league with golfing or football or baseball or whatever is being franchised.” He’s not alone. Son Kyle, who runs the two-car Petty Enterprises entry in the Nextel Cup series and drives one of the cars, and veteran Ricky Rudd said it’s time NASCAR give back to its teams. NASCAR’s vice president of racing operations, Steve O’Donnell, said the governing body has considered franchising and discussed it with team owners. “The challenge is ‘what does a franchise mean?’ in our sport and how can it benefit everyone?” O’Donnell said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.(see the full article at the Associated Press site)(4-5-2007)
2004:
- NASCAR.com to go: Nextel Communications, the leading provider of fully integrated wireless communications services, Digital Orchid Inc., an innovator in the development, management and distribution of branded wireless applications, and NASCAR.COM, a division of Turner Sports Interactive, today announced that a suite of real-time wireless NASCAR.COM content applications and services are available to consumers on mobile devices offered on the Nextel network. NASCAR.COM TO GO is a subscription service that gives members access to view and share a variety of real-time NASCAR.COM content via their wireless devices. Subscribers receive breaking news and features from NASCAR.COM’s reporters, qualifying and race results, series standings, driver updates, as well as NASCAR.COM’s live timing and scoring leaderboard service. “We are excited to have Nextel as our partner for the NASCAR.COM wireless services. Applications like NASCAR.COM TO GO are key components of Nextel’s sponsorship of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, allowing all Nextel data users to access NASCAR.COM content in real-time on their mobile phone”, said Cindy Sisson, senior vice president of marketing and co-founder of Digital Orchid. Services available to Nextel subscribers includes NASCAR.COM Mobile, a wireless web site with NASCAR.COM news and NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series content, NASCAR.COM Alerts, a wireless messaging alert service that provides subscribers breaking news and event results, and NASCAR.COM TO GO, the first wireless java application created just for the NASCAR fan. NASCAR.COM TO GO is available on select Java-enabled color screen Nextel handsets, including the limited-edition NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series phones.
NASCAR.COM TO GO can be previewed and purchased at www.NASCAR.COM/mobile. NASCAR.COM TO GO is also preloaded on all 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series phones and all 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Drivers phones. Nextel i730 and i733 customers can download NASCAR.COM TO GO at no cost at www.iDENUpdate.com
To activate the subscription on 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series phones and all 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Drivers phones simply click on the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series icon on the home page and click on the Get NASCAR.COM TO GO link. To activate the subscription on i730 and i733 phones, click on Net then Web Sites then Sports then Nextel Cup and then finally click on the Get NASCAR.COM TO GO link. Additional subscription fee of $9.99 for NASCAR.COM TO GO applies; Subscription service to Nextel Online Racing Connection data plan or any Nextel Online Web Access and Total Connect plan required.(TMCnet)(4-5-2004)
2002:
- Kerry Earnhardt to Cup in 2003 and 2004: FitzBradshaw Racing, in its first year in BGN competition,
hopes to run five Winston Cup events next season — including Texas Motor Speedway. The team, co-owned by Armando Fitz and Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw, currently ranks 27th in the BGN standings with Kerry Earnhardt driving the #12 car. The team’s goal is to compete full-time in the 2004 Winston Cup circuit with Earnhardt — the oldest son of the late Dale Earnhardt — while adding a rookie driver for the BGN. After announcing a sponsorship deal with Jani-King on Thursday (see my BGN site), Fitz said he hopes to get enough sponsorship for Earnhardt to race five Winston Cup events in 2003. Along with TMS, Fitz said Charlotte, Atlanta, Michigan and California would probably fill out the abbreviated Cup schedule. A driver can race up to seven Winston Cup events without losing his rookie status.(Dallas Morning News)(4-5-2002)
2001:
- No Split Advertising: Because of advertisers’ concerns that it distracted viewers, NBC may not carry continuous coverage during commercial breaks of NASCAR races as it did during two events last season, network spokesman Mike McCarley told Bloomberg News. The network, which begins its coverage of NASCAR in July, had planned to set aside 25 percent of the screen to advertisers who agreed(St Petersburg Times)(4-5-2001)
- Dillon Out: Mike Dillon has stepped down as the driver of the #21 Rockwell Chevy co-owned by father-in-law Richard Childress in an attempt to improve the team’s performance, and not because of injuries he sustained in a multicar wreck March 24 at Bristol. Mike Skinner, who drives Childress’ #31 Winston Cup Chevy, was behind the wheel of the #21 car at Texas, where he qualified fifth and finished ninth. Despite initial word out of the Childress camp that Skinner was simply filling in, the move is all but permanent. There’s a possibility that Dillon may drive “a race or two” later this season, but that’s it. Dillon’s focus seems to have almost completely shifted from driving to a new, as-yet unspecified role within the Childress organization. A search would begin for a driver to run the races Skinner couldn’t. Skinner will most likely drive most, if not all, of the remaining races run in conjunction with the Winston Cup tour. With an eye toward 2002, the team might opt for a young, unproven talent in stand-alone events, much the same as it did with Kevin Harvick last year(Winston Cup Scene – need subscription to view online)(4-5-2001)
Click a link below for a full listing of news from each year:
2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997